7 November 2014

North Capitol Shooting Sentencing Hearing

The Honorable John Ramsey Johnson
District of Columbia Superior Court
H. Carl Moultrie Courthouse, Chamber 3020
500 Indiana Ave NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
Re:

The North Capitol Street Shooting, March 11, 2013

Sentencing Hearings 2:00pm, Friday, November 7, 2014, Courtroom 302
DEFENDANTS:
Andrew Allen, 2013-CF3-8762; Age 20, DOB 2/14/94, shooter, armed with a Taurus 9mm semi-automatic pistol,
Model 92AF, with extended magazine;
Keith Bobb, 2013-CF3-8761; Age 22, DOB 2/13/92, driver;
Arnell Smith, 2014-CF1-3340; Age 21, DOB 11/11/92; driver.

Your Honor,
My name is Martin Moulton and I'm a volunteer on the Public Safety Committee for Advisory Neighborhood
Commission 6E. I've owned a home in this community for the past 14 years. At last night's full commission
meeting, the board voted unanimously to support the community impact statement the Court received on
Thursday; that statement represents the voices of 14,000 residents in our community. As the Court is aware,
ANC6E includes the 1200 block of North Capitol Street.
On behalf of ANC6E, I would first like to extend my deepest sympathies for the thirteen victims and their families
even though there was no tearful White House press conference or national media frenzy to recognize their
pain in this mass shooting so close to the offices of the Nation's top decision makers who've done nothing to
reduce gun violence.
I would also like to thank Assistant US Attorney Brittin, MPD chief Lanier and all of her officers, for the hard work it
took to bring these criminals to justice.
I have no idea what it must be like to have a bullet tear through flesh and shatter bone or the horror of one
moment peacefully, pleasantly enjoying an evening only to have gunfire erupt around me and be struck in a hail of
bullets and placed in desperate fear for my life.
Nonetheless, the ANC community impact statement mentions the shooting which occurred near a public charter
school in March this year; that shooting took place while I was reading a book in my bed; and a dozen shells from
that shooting were found only 30 yards from my front door.
At our ANC meeting last night, one of our local MPD officers reported yet another drug gang shooting that erupted
earlier this week, late Monday, November 3rd, next to our local Shaw neighborhood library at 8th & R St NW. The
victim was shot 8 times; as of Thursday, he was still alive.
Over the years, as a part of the public safety committee, I've attended many meetings with residents along North
Capitol St. As a mentor at the public school across the street from my home, I helped many young boys in our

community improve their reading skills. One of the students I worked with lived with his lovely family one block
south of Tyler House on the 1100 block of North Capitol St. This particular student is so brilliant, that he won 2nd
place in a citywide spelling bee with several students from much more affluent and peaceful parts of the city.
When I was 10 years old, growing up in rural California, my parents never had any concerns about my brother
and I hiking with our friends in the hills armed with flashlights hunting snakes and lizards and bull frogs late at
night. The parents of the students I worked with in Shaw, rarely let them out in front of their homes after dusk
because of the prevalences of drugs, drug crime, and related violence on our streets. Several of the 8 to 10 years
olds I worked with told me tales of witnessing violent crime or gun violence near their homes as nonchalantly
as if it was a normal part of life for a child.
No child indeed no person should have to experience the dreadful fear that accompanies reckless gun
violence in which gunmen treat our public spaces like shooting galleries.
In the interest of safety for our community, it is important that you give significant sentences to the three
defendants I'm not even going to mention their names because after today, I and most people in this room can
forget them for the next few decades and go on with our daily lives. Only in prison will they be kept from reoffending and creating more havoc and suffering in our community. Their sentences should to send a crystal clear
message to their violent associates and other criminals that gun violence will not be tolerated in Shaw or
anywhere in the District.
At some point, the defendants likely had as much potential and promise as students I've worked with. Prison will
to prepare them for re-entering society as it rapidly evolves over the next 20 years. But they must be punished for
inflicting so much harm on so many people and contributing to such a dangerous environment for people to live
and grow up.
It is because of men like these that we have tragedies in which authorities mistake law abiding, honest, loving,
peaceful and smart black boys and men for idiots. It's not the police or the media, but men like these who make
life so difficult for the rest of us. They should have their liberty taken away for a long time so they might appreciate
how great it is to be free free to come and go as one pleases, free to vote, free to love, free to pursue their
hopes, dreams and happiness. This, hopefully, they'll understand how horrible and devastating their actions have
been to others.
I wish they had all made better choices, had better parents and real friends to steer them to a happier future.
I and ANC6e endorse the sentences which the defendants have agreed to school edging guilt for their actions.
The sentences are fair, significant, reasonable and appropriate. As indicated in the sentencing report, the shooter
should receive 25 years, more years than he's been alive on this earth; the drivers should each receive 20 years
all without the possibility of appeal.
I urge the Court to accept these sentences so the victims can close this chapter of this nightmare. It is easy to
understand their pain, fear and disgust and their decision not to testify in Court with so many other reckless
gunmen still menacing our community and none of their enabling city and national policy makers having the
courage or intelligence or heart to root out this scourge. But ANC6E is proud to stand with our neighbors, through
their suffering and support them in any way possible.
Thank you for your time.